


The Strange Death of Neil Hargrove

by KingsNeverDie100



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series), Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Crossover, M/M, Murder Mystery, No actual appearance by Stranger Things characters, Ryan and Shane's POV, Written like a Buzzfeed Unsolved episode
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-03
Updated: 2019-01-03
Packaged: 2019-10-03 14:37:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17285942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KingsNeverDie100/pseuds/KingsNeverDie100
Summary: "This week on Buzzfeed Unsolved we look into the case of the strange death of Neil Hargrove. This case is a bit controversial because... well, you'll see."-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Ryan and Shane delve into the mystery that is Neil Hargrove's death. Who are the suspects? What are the theories? Will the case remain unsolved? You'll have to read and see.





	The Strange Death of Neil Hargrove

**Author's Note:**

> When I wrote this in Google Doc parts of the dialogue was colored, like in the actual Buzzfeed Unsolved, but Archive wouldn't let me color the words here as I posted them. Also, the layout looks a little weird in some places and I didn't know how to fix it. Sorry :/ I hope you enjoy it anyway!  
> Shout out to Dariary_Absentee for being an amazing beta reader!

This now comes with its very own moodboard on one of my secondary tumblr blogs! <https://my-moodz.tumblr.com/post/185797956083/the-strange-death-of-neil-hargrove-words-2997>

* * *

 

Ominous music plays as the title pops up on the screen, the light comes on, and Shane and Ryan sitting at their table.

 

Ryan begins as usual. "This week on Buzzfeed Unsolved we look into the case of the strange death of Neil Hargrove. This case is a bit controversial because... well, you'll see."

 

"What so special about it?" Shane looks totally calm while Ryan looks like he’s more than ready to get into this, like he’s been waiting for this case to be brought up in a video.

 

"Well, it's just sort of... let's just say not everyone who gets whacked didn't deserve it." There’s a little smirk on his face. There’s a gleam in his eyes that’s hard to identify. The best way to describe it would be to say Ricky Goldsworth isn’t far from the surface.

 

Shane’s eyebrows go up. He tosses a pen back and forth. He’s not super interested yet, but he’s open to listen. That’s what he’s here for, after all. "Sounds like you've already made up your mind about this."

 

"I'm just saying, as you'll see with this, some people do get what's coming to them."

 

"Well, color me intrigued."

 

“Let’s get in to it,” Ryan smiles and opens his file on the table.

 

The music changes tune. The screen changes from the guys to the image of an empty street in a small town. A few cars are parked along the road, the coloring is a shade of gray, a few leaves blow across the screen, and you can vaguely see the shape of a body hidden halfway behind one the cars.

 

Ryan beings the story. "On the morning of September 17th, 1985, in Hawkins Indiana, Neil Hargrove was found dead on the sidewalk outside his house, not far from his own front door. The police report states that Neil was stabbed four times in the abdomen by a sharp object, most likely a pocket knife or a switchblade. His pockets were empty, and his wallet and wedding band were missing. Their first thought was a robbery gone wrong, but a further look into the details of the case reveal that there may be more to this than meets the eye. Before we go over the case, let’s talk about the backstory of our victim, and the people around him at the time.

 

“In October of 1984, Neil Hargrove moved to the small town of Hawkins, Indiana from San Francisco, California, along with his family, consisting of his seventeen year old son Billy, his second wife Susan, and Susan’s daughter Max, who was thirteen at the time. His first wife had passed away six years earlier, and he’d been married to Susan for only seven months.”

 

On the screen there’s a family tree of said people. Neil’s real face is showing, but the other three are half shadowed stock photos.

 

“Contemporary reports from Neil’s colleagues and neighbours describe him as a well-liked man who was hard working and family oriented, but reports from the people closest to him tell a different story.”

 

Shane interrupts.

 

“So he was a bit two-faced?”

 

“Uhm, yeah, I guess you could call it that.”

 

“A bit Janusy.”

 

“I… What?”

 

“You know, Janus. The god with two faces.”

 

(wheeze) That’s not really what I pictured, but whatever floats your boat, man.”

 

“Oh, this is floating my boat.”

 

“Alright then, whatever makes you happy.”

 

“After his death, reports came forth that the Hargrove household was a violent one. Especially in the interactions between Neil and his son. Neil’s friends had described Billy as a rebellious child who caused a lot of trouble who Neil had to frequently discipline. Billy had a reputation as a bad boy who partied a lot and got into fights, so no one saw this as surprising. However, Billy’s own story is a bit different. According to him, Neil Hargrove was an abusive man who did not pull his punches. Apparently, Neil had begun to treat Billy violently after the death of his first wife. During the following years, Billy, from the age of eleven and forward, would endure bruises, bleeding, and broken bones. He’d have to go to the hospital with his injuries on multiple occasions, always claiming he’d had an accident or got into a fight at school, knowing that if he told the truth, things would only get worse.”

 

“Wow…”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“So he’s a _total_ asshole.”

 

“Total fuckwit, yes exactly.

Do ya see what I mean now, by “some people get what they deserve”?”

 

“I mean, I see where you’re going with it.”

 

“Billy has stated that he didn’t know for sure why his father abused him. He theorized that Neil might have taken out his grief and aggression of his first wife’s death on his eleven year old son. Billy also said, quote: “ _Fuck, man, maybe he didn’t have a reason. Maybe he just felt like hitting something, and there I was_ ”, unquote. Another possible factor to the abuse was because Neil was a very conservative man, and Billy was gay, which he has said he knew from a young age, and Neil knew it too. After moving to Hawkins, Billy began a romantic relationship with a boy from his school named Steve Harrington, who will become relevant later in the investigation.”

 

An image of two teenage boys with their arms around each other’s shoulders and their faces shadowed out come up, before it fades away, replaced by the first image of the body in the street.

 

“Now, let’s take a look at the crime itself. On the morning of September 17th, 1985, a neighbouring man on his way to work discovered the body of Neil on the sidewalk outside his house. The neighbour looked for signs of life, but when finding none, and seeing the amount of blood that had puddled around Neil, he told his wife to call an ambulance. Neil was already dead when medical staff arrived at the scene, and it was determined he’d been so for several hours, most likely since the night before. It’s theorized he came home from work after darkness had fallen, and as he walked towards his house from his car, someone got the jump on him.”

 

A computer made image shows the action of Neil walking to his house, and a dark figure sneaking up behind before jumping in front of him, surprising Neil before he could act, and thrusting a knife into him four times.

 

“The cause of death was a combination of blood loss from the stab wounds, plus that fact that one of the times the knife went into him, it had pierced his right lung. His possessions were missing, including his wallet, his wedding band, and his wrist watch.”

 

The screen shows an empty tabletop, and one by one the items Ryan names pops up on it.

 

“It was determined to have been a robbery gone wrong, but some people speculate that there was more to this than meets the eye. Let’s take a look at some of the suspects and possible motives to Neil Hargrove’s death.

 

“The first one is the one that became the official written version: a robbery gone wrong. The obvious signs were there: his missing items, the lack of signs of a struggle, and the fact that it was done in such an open environment, but there _are_ reasons to doubt this. Namely the reports of Neil’s violent tendencies that affected his family, and also the fact that the Hawkins Chief of police, Jim Hopper, was very quick to rule it as a robbery. It needs to be said that Chief Hopper was a family friend of Billy’s boyfriend, Steve Harrington.”

 

“Oh, so you’re saying the Chief might have been in on it?

A little corruption going on here? _The Departed_ style?”

 

“I’m just saying, it’s a small town, family ties have high values.

If this was a deliberate murder, the Chief _might_ have covered for whoever

did it, because of his connection to the remaining Hargrove family via Steve.”

 

“Yeah, I suppose that’s possible.”

 

“Now for the possibility of this being a planned, or at least deliberate homicide. The first person we’ll look into was the main suspect: the victim’s son, Billy Hargrove. Billy was a senior in high school at the time, and a week away from turning eighteen. His motivation for committing the crime would obviously be the abuse he suffered for numerous years under Neil’s thumb as well as Neil’s more than harsh judgement of Billy’s sexuality.

 

“Billy should have been the only one in the house that night when Neil came home, with his stepmother and sister away visiting family in California, but instead, the police found that Billy hadn’t been home at all that night. He had been at his boyfriend’s house. However, this does not provide a strong alibi because of two reasons. One: his boyfriend easily could have covered for him. Two: Hawkins was not a big town. Billy could have walked from Steve’s house with or without Steve knowing, gotten home in time to meet his father as Neil came home from work, committed the act, and walked back to Steve’s before the body was discovered, and been “informed” about it the next morning. Several of Billy’s schoolmates who were questioned about it have also said that Billy did own a switchblade similar to the one they believed killed Neil, but it was never found, as Billy claimed he’d lost it some time before the death of his father.”

 

“You said this guy was abusing his son. Was he also doing that to his wife and stepdaughter?”

 

“It’s possible. It was never confirmed, but it was highly speculated because of what he did to Billy, but they never said yes or no. But the wife couldn’t have done it, because she was out of town at the time.”

 

“Yeah, I know, I heard you. I’m just trying to build up an image in my mind of how big an asshole this guy was.”

 

“Oh, he was a huge asshole. The biggest you’ve ever seen.”

 

“You’ve seen a lot of assholes then, Ryan?”

 

(wheeze) “Uhm, yeah, I’ve seen some assholes. And trust me,

this guy is among the topshelf assholes.”

 

“A topshelf asshole, wow. You don’t see that everyday.”

 

(wheeze)

 

“The second suspect was Steve Harrington, Billy Hargrove’s boyfriend. Steve came from a well-off family with ties all around town, his father being a lawyer to some pretty high-profile people. Similar to Billy, Steve had a reputation of partying and getting into fights, though not as often as Billy. Steve’s motive for the murder would have been the same as Billy’s: to help his boyfriend get away from his abusive father, and his actions would have followed the same pattern. As stated before, depending on how close Chief Hopper was to the Harrington family, he could have covered for Steve if he knew or thought Steve was guilty.”

 

A stock image of a middle aged police officer appears on screen, along with the scripted words Ryan reads.

 

“When interviewed by a local paper, Chief Hopper had this to say about the case: quote, “ _It’s an open and shut case. It’s tragic, but these things happen sometimes. All we can do now is offer our condolences to the family, and try to catch whoever did it, and hopefully bring them some closure on the matter_ ”, unquote. A very dismissive statement for a case that could be more than it seems, if you ask me. Could Chief Hopper have been covering up Steve’s guilt? Another theory is that Steve and Billy committed the act together, which is why they were conveniently with each other that night and able to give each other alibis.”

 

The camera focuses on the two men sitting by the table in their recording studio.

 

“Or they were just two horny teenagers, you know.”

 

Ryan laughs. “Yeah, that’s likely too.”

 

“I mean, if you’re a teenager and you’re dating someone, especially someone your dad doesn’t approve of, him being a homophobe and all, you’d think you’d have better reasons to be alone in a house across town from him than to plan his murder.”

 

“You’re saying they were just at home having sex on a school night while one of their dads was being killed a few miles over?”

 

Shane shrugs and looks unbothered. “That’s what I would do.”

 

“Okay, let’s move on.”

 

The screen darkens again.

 

“The third and final theory, and perhaps the one that’s the easiest to dismiss, but still deserves to be mentioned, is that Neil Hargrove was indeed killed on purpose, and his murderers were a group of children.”

 

(wheeze) “W-what? A group of children?”

 

“Just hear me out before you brush it off.”

 

“No, I’ve already brushed it. It’s brushed, swept under

the rug, it’s gone, Ryan.

Brushed into the void.”

 

“Alright, but just-”

 

“ _Bunch of children_. Do you realize how ridiculous you sound? Unbelievable.”

 

When Shane let’s him speak again, Ryan continues to explain the theory.

 

“The group of children that were very briefly regarded as possible suspects were six middle schoolers that Steve, and occasionally Billy, used to babysit. The children allegedly viewed Steve as a big brother figure and held him in very high regards. If the children had learned that their beloved babysitter and friend’s boyfriend was being abused by his father, they might have stepped up to protect him in their own way, and taken the notion too far. Another reason for their suspicion was the fact that one of the children in the group was Max, Billy’s little step-sister, who obviously had a personal connection to the matter, and another was Chief Hopper’s own daughter, which would again possibly connect the Chief to the case.”

 

Shadowed stock photos of six tweens are shown. The four boys are faded into the background, as the pictures of two young girls, meant to represent Max Mayfield and Jane Hopper, are brought forward.

 

“I’m glad that this theory is dismissed, because it’s- Honestly, it’s just plain stupid.”

 

“I’m not saying I came up with this theory,

I’m just reading what others have speculated.”

 

“Yeah, but they speculate-”

 

“They think that a bunch of thirteen years olds saw their friend and brother getting hurt,

and with their childlike minds came up with the solution

“Let’s get rid of the problem for them”.”

 

“The problem being a human being. Just, “ _Fuck it, let’s kill this guy and then go play Fortnite or something_ ”, or the 80’s version of Fortnite,

“ _so our babysitter will be happy again_ ”. “ _Let’s stab this guy_

 _to death and then go watch_ The Goonies.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“No, fuck you. Just no. I don’t buy it.”

 

“Me neither, but some people do, so…”

 

“Well, some people are idiots.”

 

(wheeze) I mean, yeah, that’s something we can agree on.”

 

The screen lights up. The episode is coming to a close. Ryan shuts his file on the table and Shane is sitting leaned back in his chair, looking deep in thought.

 

“So what do you think? D’you have any theories of your own? Anything that sticks out?” Ryan asks, looking forward to- and simultaneously dreading to- hearing what Shane has to say.

 

Shanes sighs deeply and crosses his arms. “The first thing that come to mind is those kids did absolutely not do it.”

 

“Oh, you’re just _completely_ against that?”

 

“Even the thought of it makes me laugh,” Shane says with a stoic, straight face.

 

Ryan, however, does actually laugh. “Yeah, most people involved in this case feel the same way, but it is a theory that’s out there, so I had to bring it up. Most people pin it on Billy or Steve or them together, but the official report says it’s a robbery gone wrong, and the robber was never found.”

 

“Ya know, with these kind of things it’s… it’s tricky.”

 

Ryan looks delighted. “You see what I meant now, when I said some people get what they deserve?”

 

Shane nods and leans his elbows on the table in front of them. “I do see it, and the thing is,” he shrugs dismissively, “does there really always _need_ to be someone guilty?”

 

Ryan’s eyes light up. “Yeah, that’s what I was thinking too while researching this case. Like, sometimes it’s best to just let things go, you know?”

 

“Mm, I _do_ know.”

 

Ryan is quiet for a few seconds. He stares at Shane suspiciously. “...Why do you sound like you know about letting things go?”

 

“I’m just saying, I know that sometimes you gotta let things go,” Shane replies like it’s no big deal.

 

“Yeah, I agree, I’m just wondering what _you’ve_ had to let go?” Ryan argues.

 

Shane stares straight into the camera and doesn’t answer. Is it a bit for comical effect, or something more?... Nobody will ever know.

 

Ryan shudders and smiles into the camera to break the tense mood. “Alright, let’s just let that matter go, shall we? Thank you so much for watching this episode of Buzzfeed Unsolved. Leave a comment down below, or if you have a question or just some thoughts about the episode, go to our Facebook page or our Instagram. We’ll answer some of those questions on the Post Mortem. Don’t forget to subscribe to get all the good content we provide. Thank you and good night!”

 

The screen fades one final time. This time we see an image of Neil Hargrove’s picture, blood staining the edges of it, as Ryan does the final voice over.

 

“Was Neil’s Hargrove’s death a mistake as the final report says, or was there something more to it? Had the people around him finally had enough of the cruelty he projected onto them, and they decided to do something about it? Was it a case based on good intentions with justice being served, but it got taken too far in the eyes of the law? Whatever the answer might be, this case appears meant to remain… Unsolved.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm thinking about writing a Post Mortem. Write in the comments questions or comments that you would ask the Ghoul Boys about this episode. Also write the user name you would like the question to be from, and from which social media site :)


End file.
